Display package for hair accessories

ABSTRACT

A display package for generally ring-shaped ponytail holders formed of: a. a fold-over card formed from a single elongated strip folded at the bottom to define front and rear panels joined by a neck at the bottom, each of the panels having near its top edge a through hole, the holes becoming aligned when the panels are folded to overlie each other, b. a wire formed as a closed loop which defines a plane, the loop having top and bottom parts, the top part lying in the neck, said bottom part situated below the neck, the plane of the loop being generally coplanar with the plane of the panels, and c. a plurality of ring-shaped ponytail holders, the wire extending through the bores of the ponytail holders such that they hang below the fold-over card, each ring-shaped ponytail holder defining a plane situated generally perpendicular to the panels.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to merchandise display packaging and more particularly to point-of-sale display cards for hair accessories such as ring-shaped ponytail holders.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A wide variety of merchandising and display cards are known for displaying various hair accessories for sale in retail establishments. In selecting a display card there are numerous objectives which must be considered simultaneously. Obviously, the product should be highly visible or as visible as possible and displayed in an attractive manner which is flattering to the product. Also, it is an object to display numerous products with one card, particularly where they are sold in bundles of two three or even up to ten units per card. Furthermore, it is important that the articles for sale be attached with adequate security to the card so that they can not be easily stolen or separated from the card.

Furthermore, it is well known that a critical factor in display of products of this type in a retail store is tied to the amount of rack space granted to the company providing the goods. These goods are displayed on racks and it is an objective to display and to store the maximum number of goods for a given amount of rack space while still providing a most attractive display. A further objective is to display the company name on the package along with the promotional illustrations and other information and indicia. This becomes a problem when the product is bulky or of a shape which does not easily become attached to display cards. This is particularly true with three dimensional hair accessories such as ponytail holders which are ring-shaped and therefore occupy a considerable space. It is preferable not to display them in a flat orientation on the card where the plane of the ring is parallel to the plane of the card, because that would result in the minimum number of articles for a given card space.

With certain known display cards, a wire or string is put through the center of a plurality of ring-shaped ponytail holders which are arranged to lie on the face of the card. The ring-shaped ponytail holders then become inclined against each other in a bulky arrangement. Typically, in the prior art, these ring-shaped products are contained on a string or wire with the result that they lie against the card, basically on the front surface of the card, since this is the almost universal way to display carded products. The card which may be rectangular or other shape and has a hole at the top for hanging on a peg and the advertising and promotional indica is situated immediately around and below the hole in the card. In this manner the product when it is bulky extends forward of the card by a considerable distance and prevents having too many cards in a row, one in front of the other because each one is so thick due to the combined thickness of the card plus the product situated in front of the card.

One prior art merchandising package shown by Pat. No. 6,073,758 is a fold-over sheet having holes at the top and a neck portion at the bottom. In this situation the display article is a bracelet which extends through a hole in said neck portion, and thus the bracelet is situated askew with the plane of the card.

In another prior art display package system shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,193,676, glove articles are hung in a manner generally parallel to the plane of the card, is in contrast to the new invention where the articles are perpendicular to the plane of the card.

A still further prior art display device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,988,373 which is similar to the previously described prior art except that the card has an H shape instead of a rectangular shape.

OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved merchandise display card particularly for ponytail holders which allows securing of the products to the card without having them situated in front of the card. It is a more specific object to secure ring-shaped ponytail holders by a wire or string which maintains them below the card which is folded to form two panels with a fold at the bottom through which the wire or string extends. It is a still further object of this invention that the ponytail holders be oriented such that they are aligned with a common central axis running through all of them, and that said common axis extends parallel to the plane of the folded card. It is a further object that the ponytail holders be secured by a plastic wire device which extends through the centers of the ponytail holders and along the sleeve of the card in a non-releasable manner unless it is broken or cut. A still further object is to provide a display card which is a single sheet or strip folded in half, thereby defining at the bottom a folded sleeve and providing at the top two similar edges as a top surface. It is thus an object of the invention for the ponytail holders to be situated where the plane of each ring is essentially perpendicular to the plane of the folded card from which they are hung.

The new invention differs from and is an improvement on prior art display cards, such as that of U.S. Pat. No. 6,073,758 described above, in numerous basic concepts. One is that the ponytail holders are totally below the display card instead of extending through part of it. Secondly, the new display card allows attachment of a substantial plurality of products instead of just one. Thirdly, the new invention allows and requires the products to be essentially perpendicular to the plane of the card whereas the bracelet in the prior art is neither perpendicular nor parallel to the plane of the card but is askew thereto. Furthermore, the card allows for the display of only a single bracelet which in this case is shown to be even larger in diameter than the card. Thus, it is believed that this particular prior art reference in no way anticipates or renders obvious the new invention herein.

Additional objects of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiment thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying non-limiting drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top front perspective view of the new merchandise display package including both the display card and the products secured to the card; and

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1 of the display card including the product attached thereto.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 shows the new merchandise display package 10 comprising the display card 12, the plastic wire 14 and the plurality of ring-shaped ponytail holders 16. The display card 12 is comprised of a single sheet of cardboard or plastic folded to have a front panel 18 and a rear panel 20 joined by the folded neck portion 22 which provides a sleeve or tunnel through which extends said plastic wire 14. Near the top edge of the front and rear panels 18 and 20 are apertures 24 which extends through both front and rear panels 18 and 20 and are used to hang the new display package from a hook shown in FIG. 2 as hook or peg 26 that extends from a wall or rack 28. The plastic wire is commonly used because it has permanent bumps along its length and a coupling at one end through which the bumps can be pulled somewhat like a one way-belt buckle. This device does not allow the wire with bumps to be withdrawn from the coupling unless it is physically broken or cut with a scissor, knife or other appropriate tool. Thus, this is considered a reasonably safe way to secure products for display in a retail establishment. Obviously, this will not prevent a shoplifter from taking the whole card, but it will prevent such person from removing the products from the card.

It is of particular note that the plastic wire creates a loop of its own where the plane of the loop is generally parallel and coincident with the plane of the folded card. More particularly, the ponytail holders are aligned to hang below the plastic wire in an orientation where the plane of each ponytail ring is generally perpendicular to the plane of the display card. Thus, a maximum number of ponytail holders can be hung and displayed in an attractive manner from a single card. Furthermore, the ponytail holders are displayed below the card as opposed to being in front of the sheet portion of the card. Thus, a maximum number of product can be displayed with the card without bulkiness of situating the products in front of the card. This display is particularly neat and attractive and concise and allows the maximum amount of visibility to the card itself without having products occupying space on the front surface of the card. Also, this new display card and product arrangement allows for a type of vertical stacking of products and cards instead of the usual horizontal orientation of the product in front of a card.

The sleeve portion 22 has a width somewhat less in length than the full width of the card in this particular embodiment, so that the plastic wire when it extends beyond the sleeve and makes a loop in the lateral direction to go around and through the ponytail holders does not extend beyond the maximum width of the card. This helps keep the overall product in a neat and concise arrangement.

When the plastic wire is secured through the ponytail holders in a one preferred manner, these ponytail holders are aligned to support each other in their orientation which is perpendicular to the plane of the card and they are held snugly by the plastic wire to remain in such attractive and efficient orientation.

The display card can be made of plastic sheet material or cardboard or even metal if desired or metalized plastic. Also the plastic wire can have substitutes so long as the ring-shaped ponytail holders remain oriented generally as seen below the sleeve or collar portion of the folded strip.

This card is inexpensive and simple to make and assemble and thus is highly desirable in this very competitive retail market of low mark-up products such as ponytail holders.

Although the invention has been described with respect to a preferred embodiment, it is understood that changes and modifications can be made which are within the full intended scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. 

1. A display package for generally ring-shaped ponytail holders comprising: a. a fold-over card formed from a single elongated strip folded at the bottom to define front and rear panels joined by a neck at the bottom, each of said panels having near its top edge a through hole, said holes becoming aligned when said panels are folded to overlie each other, b. a wire formed as a closed loop which defines a plane, said loop having top and bottom parts, the top part lying in said neck, said bottom part situated below said neck, said plane of said loop being generally coplanar with said plane of said panels, and c. a plurality of ring-shaped ponytail holders, said wire extending through the bores of said ponytail holders such that they hang below said fold-over card, each ring-shaped ponytail holder defining a plane situated generally perpendicular to said panels.
 2. A display package according to claim 1 wherein said panels when folded to overlie each other are generally parallel and define a vertical plane, with said ponytail holders each defining a plane generally perpendicular to said vertical plane.
 3. A display package according to claim 1 wherein said ponytail holders hang with their planes generally perpendicular to the plane of said wire.
 4. A display package according to claim 1 wherein said ponytail holders are positioned below said folded panels and generally centered therewith.
 5. A display package according to claim 1 wherein said apertures through said front and rear panels are situated midway of the length of said panels from left to right.
 6. A display package according to claim 1 wherein said wire comprises a plastic wire having bumps situated along its length and a latch through which said bumps are extendable in one direction and not removable in the other direction.
 7. A display package according to claim 1 wherein said first and rear panels have generally the same length and height.
 8. A display package according to claim 1 wherein said strip comprises plastic sheet.
 9. A display package according to claim 1 wherein said strip comprises cardboard.
 10. A display package according to claim 1 wherein said panels lie generally flat against each other.
 11. A display package for generally ring-shaped ponytail holders comprising: a. a fold-over card formed from a single elongated strip folded at the bottom to define front and rear panels joined by a neck at the bottom, each of said panels having near its top edge a through hole, said holes becoming aligned when said panels are folded to overlie each other, b. a wire-like element formed as a closed loop which defines a plane, said loop having top and bottom parts, the top part lying in said neck, said bottom part situated below said neck, said plane of said loop being generally coplanar with said plane of said panels, and c. a plurality of ring-shaped ponytail holders, said wire extending through the bores of said ponytail holders such that they hang below said fold-over card, each ring-shaped ponytail holder defining a plane situated generally perpendicular to said panels. 